Cotton-seed planter.



Nu. 680,496. Patent'ed Aug. I3, 190|. W. C. MILLS.

COTTON SEED PLANTES.

(Application tiled Feb. 25, 1901..)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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PatentedAug. I3, |90I. W. C. MILLS.

COTTON SEED PLANTER.

(Appl t mayb 25 1901) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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UNTTED STATES PATENT Ormes.

VILLTAM OAIRILL MILLS, OF RO'WLETT, TEXAS.

.COTTON-@sesomaures.

SPECIFICATON forming part of Letters :Patent No. 680,496, dated August13, 1901.

Appiicaion nea rami-yet, 1901. serrano. 48.718. camorra T0 all whom,tmc/y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM CAIRILL MILLS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Rowlett, in the county of Dallas, State of Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-SeedPlanters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it apperi'ains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to planters in general, and more particularly tothat class designed for the planting of cotton-seed, although.it will beunderstood from the following description that the construction may beused for planting of other seeds.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and efcientconstruction wherein the seeds will be fed evenly.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from thefollowing description.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a Vertical longitudinal section of the planter. Fig. 2 is atransverse section through the planter. Fig. 3 is atop plan View of theplanter. Fig. et is a side elevation of the planter with the upperportion raised.

Referring now to the drawings, the present planter comprises a hopperincluding a bottom portion having sides 5 and 6 and ends 'Z and 8, theends vconverging downwardly, and in the upper edges of the sides areformed bearings Qand 10 for the operating-shaft 11, which is disposedtransversely of the hopper. The hopper includes also an upper portioncomprising sides 12 and 13 and downwardlyconverging ends 14 and 15,these sides and ends being adapted to rest with their lower edges uponthe'upper edges of the corresponding portions of the bottom section ofthe hop-v per, the upper section being hinged to the bottom sectionthrough the medium of hinges 16 at one end. To place theoperating-shaft,

the upper section of the hopper is raised, and after the shaft has beenplaced the upper section is again lowered and secured by means of alatch 17. The lower section of the hop- Aper has a central longitudinalslot 18 therethrough, and in this slot is disposed the lower edge of anoctagonal feed-wheel 19, which is fixed 'upon the operating-shaft forrotation thereby. The cotton-seed, which is placed loosely within thehoppeiyis fed therefrom through this slot at one side of the wheelthatis, at the forward end of the slot-and this forward end of the slot isnormally closed by means of a spring-tongue 20, which is attached at theforward end of the slot, While the rear end thereof is free and isdisposed in the path of movement of the corners of the feed-wheel,whereby when the wheel is r0- tated these corners will successivelyengage the tongue and will depress it, so that the seed may passtherefrom and drop tothe furrow. To facilitate discharge of the seedfrom the tongue, the angles of the wheel are provided with radiatingpins 2l, which strike and scrape longitudinally of the tongue.

In order that the seed within the hopper may be thoroughly agitated andmoved in the direction of the discharge-slot, two sets of agitators areprovided. One set consists of two rods 25 and 26, which are passedradially through the shaft at points adjacent to the sides of the hopperand the end portions of which are bent away from the sides of thehopper. The second pair of agitators consists of two wires or rods 27and 2S, which are passed through the operating-shaft adjacent to thefeed-wheel and at opposite sides thereof, and which latter are held adjustably `by means of set-screws 29 and 30. One end of each of the rods27 and 28 is bent laterally, and these laterally-bent ends are adaptedfor movement through grooves 31 and 32, formed longitudinally of thebottom of the hopper. By this means as the shaft rotates the contents ofthe hopper are continually stirred, with the result of securing acontinuous supply of seed from the hopper to the dischargeslot.

The hopper is mounted upon running-gear,"

IOO

construction it Will be seen that when the upper section of the hopperis raised the feedshaft, with its feed and agitatingmeehanism, may beraised bodily from the hopper and may be replaced at will.

'What is claimed isl. A planter comprising a hopper including a lowersection provided With bearings at its upper edge, an upper sectionhinged to the lower seetion and adapted to Close the bearings, the lowersection having a central longitudinal slot and grooves at the sidesthereof, and a feed-wheel having a shaft mounted in said bearings andprvided lwith agitatingarms passed radially therethrough, certain of thearms having laterally-bent ends disposed for movement through thegrooves, and the remaining agitating-arms being eaeh bent within theshaft to form tWo members lying at an angle to each other and diverginginthe direct-ion of the feed-Wheel.

2. A planter comprising a hopper having supporting-Wheels and an axlerotatable therewith, said hopper including upper and lower hingedsections, the lower section having bearings in its upper edge adapted tobe covered by the upper hopper-section, said hopper having a centrallongitudinal slotprovided with a spring-tongue at one end andlongitudinal grooves at the sides of the slot, a shaft removably mountedin the bearings, an angular feed-Wheel Xed upon the shaft and disposedinthe slot to engage and depress the tongue with its corner portions,agitating-arms engaged with the shaft, and additional agitating-armsengaged with the shaft and disposed to pass with their ends through thegrooves, and connections between the shaft and axle for rotating theshaft.

In testimony whereof I hereunto sign my name, in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses, on the 23d day of January, 1901.

WILLIAM CAIRILL MILLS.

W'itnesses:

JAMEs T. HAYs, G. W. CRossMAN.

